1 May 2013
BARCELONA 0
BAYERN MUNICH 3 (Robben 48, Pique 72 og, Mueller 76)
Pique made two superb goal saving interceptions in the opening twenty minutes although I'm still not sure if the second was in fact a foul and thus should have been a penalty. Xavi found himself in unfamiliar territory inside the six yard box but blazed a volley over after Fabregas inadvertently helped on a cross.
Alaba found Robben with a magnificent crossfield pass, he trapped the ball on his chest, did his trademark shift the ball from right foot to left as he cut inside Adriano then whipped a shot inside the top left corner. Brilliant goal even though he's done it 100 times it never gets old. Luis Gustavo split Dani Alves and Batra with an impeccably weighted pass and Pique sliced Ribery's centre over Valdes. A forlorn Villa wasted a chance to score a consolation goal and three minutes later Ribery held off Song and hung up a cross to the back post for Muller to head in a historic third.
The so called greatest club side of all time suffered the heaviest ever defeat in a European Cup semi-final. Fitting in a week in which the Spanish courts ordered blood samples to be destroyed in the Fuentes doping trial. I will never, ever be convinced that a team of midgets could maintain a level of pressing Barcelona maintained under Guardiola (who of course was found guilty of taking nandrolone as a player) were on the level. What Bayern did to Barcelona is what many teams who were vastly superior physically to these midgets should have done and probably would have done all things being equal.
Barcelona's vice president claimed "we will make four or five signings" so much for la masia.
Bayern Munich win 7-0 on aggregate.
Attendance : 95,877
Assists : Alaba, n/a, Ribery
30 April 2013
REAL MADRID 2 (Benzema 82, Ramos 88)
DORTMUND 0
The overrated Hummels, always crap under pressure, gave away the ball near his own penalty area, Ozil poked Modric's pass through to Higuain but Weidenfeller was quick off his line and made an excellent block. Seconds after Lewandowski lost the Real Madrid defence on a free kick and volleyed straight at Lopez, Ronaldo did the same at the other end. Higuain sent Ozil clear of Schmelzer with an exquisite reverse pass, he opened up his body as Weidenfeller came off his line but dragged his shot hopelessly wide. Dortmund settled after the frenetic opening fifteen minutes and should have put the tie to bed early in the second half but Lewandowski hammered a shot against the underside of the crossbar. Reus found Gundogan free at the back post but Lopez flew off his line to make a stunning block. Di Maria played in Ronaldo on the edge of the box but he blazed over. Terrible miss. The home side finally broke through after sloppy defending from a goalkick. Kaka' laid off a Benzema pass to the overlapping Ozil and he pulled back a centre for the Frenchman to finish a fine move. Hummels made another dreadful clearance but this time he didn't get away with it. Ozil intercepted and passed to Ramos who finished emphatically. Late into the fifth minute of injury time Ronaldo went down when going shoulder to shoulder with Santana for the ball but Webb told him to get up and when the ball was booted into the Madrid half blew for full time.
Real Madrid are not nor have they been the second best team in the World for over a decade. Being one of the top team teams in a two team league means nothing. Real Madrid are a largely mediocre side with an exceptional coach but even he can't mask the failings of this team. Every good side Real Madrid have faced in European in recent years has beaten them. Without Mourinho irrespective of who is their next coach I doubt they'll reach the semi-final stage for a very long time.
Dortmund win 4-3 on aggregate.
Attendance : 79,429
Assists : Ozil, Ozil
24 April 2013
DORTMUND 4 (Lewandowski 8, Lewandowski 50, Lewandowski 55, Lewandowski 66 Pen)
REAL MADRID 1 (Ronaldo 43)
Dortmund had already gone close through Reus before taking an eighth minute lead. Schmelzer played a one-two with Gundogan before flicking a pass out wide to Bayern bound Gotze and as he swung a deep cross in from the left flank Lewandowski got between Varane and Pepe to give Dortmund the lead. The over-rated Hummels woefully underhit a back pass and fraud Higuain centred for Ronaldo to score a cheap equaliser.
The bad defending continued. Khedira nonchalantly tried to clear a cross but didn't get any distance, Blaszczykowski touched the ball back for Reus who scuffed his shot and as the Real Madrid defenders appealed for offside Lewaondowski turned and shot past Lopez. Dortmund played on La Liga teams problems with altitude sickness as another cross yielded a hat-trick goal for Lewaondowski. Varane headed Blaszczykowski cross to the edge of the box, Schmeltzer's shot was hopelessly off target, Modric's block took the ball to Lewaondowski and as Pepe dived in with a tackle he stepped away before hammering a shot into the roof of the net. Useless cunt Xabi Alonso bundled over Reus, who was attacking a cross, to concede a penalty and Lewandowski became the first player to score four goals in a European Cup semi-final with a punishing right foot shot. Ronaldo and Varane had chances in the last four minutes as Dortmund probably tired from their incessant pressing but a second Madrid goal would have been a travesty, a 4-1 defeat flatters them.
Six of the eight goals the Spanish have conceded in the last 24 hours were forced from crosses. As I have said before going high and long is the way to deal with these pussies that play in a league in which the air game is an anomaly - because the players are a pack of midgets. Of course the refereeing helped greatly, unlike in most games in which these diving scumbags play in, in these two games the officials, Kassai and Kuipers, officiating football as if it was a contact sport.
Attendance : 65,829
Assists : Gotze, Higuain, Reus, n/a, Reus (won pen)
23 April 2013
BAYERN MUNICH 4 (Muller 25, Gomez 49, Robben 73, Muller 82)
BARCELONA 0
Two minutes is all it took for Bayern to breach the Barcelona defence. Martinez found Robben with a clever back heal but he shot straight at Valdes. Bayern should have been awarded a penalty for a clear handball by Pique. Barcelona half cleared a corner, Robben jumped in the air to volley the ball back into the box, Muller held it up before rolling a pass out wide to Robben, he hung a cross upto the back post, Dante jumped over Alves to head across goal and Muller ran in to head low into the bottom right corner. Dante almost turned a cross into his own net and Barcelona survived another clear handball, this time by Sanchez.
Robben overhit a corner, Valdes ran off his line and froze, Muller headed the ball back across goal and Gomez volleyed into an empty net. Bayern scored a brilliant third on a counter attack. Schweinsteiger found Robben on the right of the penalty area, he dropped a shoulder to go past Alba, Muller sent him flying with an excellent body check and as Valdes ran to his near post to cut off the angle Robben fired into the opposite corner. Schweinsteiger crushed arrogant, diving piece of shit Alves' ankle when challenging for a loose ball. In the same passage of play Muller pulled up with cramp but before he could be substituted he had time to convert Alaba's centre. Overrated, overnight sensation and petulant little bastard Alba was booked for throwing the ball in Robben's face.
Barcelona's best two (only) chances fell to another of their tedious La Masia graduates - Batra.
In the build up to the game Pique spoke of how Spain ended Germany's dominance :
"The time where football was defined as a sport of 11 players against 11 players with the Germans eventually emerging victorious is something of the past. And we are the ones who ended it."
I don’t know what game he's been following over the past 20 years but it was France, not Germany, who had become the dominant European side and at club level the Germans haven't dominated since the 1970s.
Attendance : 68,000
Assists : Dante, Muller, Schweinsteiger, Alaba